4 Fake Consoles That People Took Way Too Seriously

This week rumors of a next-gen gaming system called "Nintendo Fusion" swept through the Internet. The Fusion, featuring both a handheld and a console, seemed too good to be true and it was.

The rumors, as it turn out, started with one site receiving an anonymous tip. The website in question says that they don't even know who the source is. Too bad, because I was really looking forward to checking out the Fusion's "Thumbprint Security Scanner with Pulse Sensing Feedback."

This isn't the first time that a fake console rumor has set the Internet ablaze, though. Here are a few other hoaxes from the past few years.

X-Surface

The Myth
In the months before Xbox One's announcement, no one had any idea what to call Microsoft's next console. Rumor articles alternated between a few different code names such as Xbox 720, Nextbox or Xbox Infinity.

A tipster who identified himself as a Microsoft employee said we were overthinking it, though. In an email to multiple gaming publications, he said that the Xbox 360's successor would simply be called "Xbox." It would serve as a hub for multiple "X"-branded devices.

The first device to interact with the new Xbox was going to be called X-Surface. This tablet was described as a "portable gaming system" that could also play videos and music. X-Surface was said to be capable of running Ubisoft's open-world game Watch Dogs at 55-60 frames per second. The device used a brand-new OS rather than Windows 8.

The Reality
Soon after the X-Surface story was published on multiple sites, the "tipster" admitted on Tumblr that it was all a ruse. He created the rumor to expose journalists as lazy gossipers.

"By tagging a post with ‘rumour’, most writers/editors believe they can get away with spreading false information for their own benefits. They are the only ones to gain from such practices, whilst the gaming fans end up with speculation and, sometimes, outright lies," he said.

The hoaxer muddled his point by then railing against a journalist who did call him on his bullshit. Still, the whole episode showed just how easily these rumors can spread.